Welcome to the Living Hope Church Missionary site. The LHC Family is involved in both home and foreign mission work and is proud to have LHC family members out in the fields of harvest. This blog chronicles the missionaries and mission work of Living Hope Church. LHC has supported missions around the world financialy, prayerfully and sacrificialy. We invite you to follow our blog and see the mission work being done by LHC.

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

I have been praying about missions, evangelism and all that
God is doing in our community and around the world. I am constantly amazed that
the creator of the heavens and the earth would allow someone like me to be a
part of what He is doing to work His plan for all creation. When I look at the
enormity of what God is doing at times I am overwhelmed and I don’t see how I
can really make a difference. Then God reminds me - He multiplies!

One example of God’s multiplication is the miracle of the
loaves and fishes. Jesus performed this
miracle twice. The first instance is recorded in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:5-15. In this
instance a large crowd, about five thousand men not including the women and
children, had gathered to see Jesus. As the day came to an end the disciples
suggested Jesus send the crowd away so they could buy food for themselves.
Jesus had a better idea. He took the five loaves and two fish the disciples had
and blessed them. He broke the bread and gave it to the disciples to distribute
to the crowd. When everyone had eaten and were satisfied the disciples gathered
the remaining bread which filled twelve baskets. The second instance of this
miracle is recorded in Mark 8:1-9 and Matthew 15:32-39. In this instance a
great crowd had gathered to see Jesus bringing the sick and infirm to Him to be
healed. The crowd was there three days and Jesus did not want to send them away
hungry but the disciples did not have enough food to feed them. Jesus took the
seven loaves and few fish the disciples had, and blessing the food broke the
bread and gave the food to the disciples to distribute. There were about 4000
men in the crowd, not counting the women and children. When everyone had eaten
and were satisfied the disciples gathered the remaining bread and filled seven
baskets.

In both cases God was able to take what the disciples had
and multiply it to feed multitudes with more leftover than they started
with.Jesus taught parables about God’s
multiplication throughout the New Testament – the parable of the sower, the
parable of the talents, the parable of the leaven all teach us something
regarding the Kingdom of Heaven and the multiplication of God. I like the way
one author I read describes it – “Whatever you keep is all you have, what you
give God multiplies.”

Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed
down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with
the measure you use, it will be measured to you.Luke 6:38

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be
food in my house. And there put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I
will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing
until there is no more need.Malachi
3:10

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will
supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your
righteousness.2
Corinthians 9:10

Whatever we give to God for His will is multiplied. If we
give our money, God will multiply it. If we give our time, God will multiply
it. If we share His love, God will multiply it. I believe God has given us a
great opportunity as a church. We have been involved in what He is doing in
here in our community and also as far away as Nairobi, Kenya. As the Kelly’s
transition into their role in Kenya we will be even more involved in Kenya, our
community and in partnership with Bethany International in Minneapolis. God
will use these connections to multiply our impact on the world around us.

So, what do we need to do? We need to commit to giving to
God. We need to be committed to giving God our time, our prayers, our devotion,
our love, our finances, and whatever He asks. God will take whatever we give
and multiply it for His work and His glory. If we don’t give then God can’t
multiply it – remember anything multiplied by zero is still zero. One of the
best ways we can give is by sharing what God is doing in our lives, in our
church and in our community with others. This gives us the chance to share the
good news of God’s everyday impact on our lives and the lives of the people
around us. It also gives others a chance to get involved and be a part of what
God is doing.

In my last blog post I mentioned the costs to move the Kelly
family to Nairobi. I can’t imagine how any one of us could raise those funds
but God can because He multiplies. The Kellys have raised $54,245 or enough to
cover 3433 miles of the trip. They’re about 500 miles off the coast of England.
They need to raise another $70,000 or so to be fully funded. I believe God can
multiply what we can do to help the Kellys raise the funds they need but we
have to commit our part. We have all contributed financially through donations,
the banquet and auction and the rummages sale. We have committed our prayers
and I know we are praying because of the doors God has opened for the Kellys. We
also need to be committed to sharing what the Kellys are doing and what God is
doing through them with our friends, neighbors, relatives and anyone else who
might be interested. I believe if we continue to be committed to praying and
sharing we will be amazed at the multiplication God will perform!